There are a wide variety of electrical connectors which are mountable through an aperture in a panel and for coupling to a mating connector or other complementary electrical device on a side of the panel opposite the direction of insertion of the connector. Such panel mounted connectors typically include some form of latch means in the form of latch arms for retaining the connector at a particular position relative to the aperture in the panel.
Such panel mounted electrical connectors are used in a variety of applications or environments wherein it is desirable or necessary to protect the connector components or the mating connection of the connector from vibrations due to the mounting of the connector to panels having a variety of thicknesses. The applications can range from automotive applications to refrigerators and countless other environments. Likewise, the provision of anti-vibration means can take a wide range of forms, from fastening means for rigidly fixing the connector to the panel, to more versatile means such as snap-action mounting means.
For instance, a connector housing can be molded with an integral anti-vibration arm which is yieldable or sufficiently flexible to bias the connector against its mount, such as one side of the panel, and to take up any slack which might otherwise result in rattling of the connector in response to vibrations. The anti-vibration arm could engage and yield against one side of the panel, for instance, or the anti-vibration arm might yieldably engage an abutment surface on a rigid complementary mating connector.
One of the problems with panel mounted electrical connectors, and particularly such connectors using anti-vibration arms, flanges or the like which are integral with a molded dielectric connector housing, is that the panel mounting means and the anti-vibration means take up considerable amount of space on the perimeter of the connector housing, such as one or more side walls of the housing. This is a considerable disadvantage in applications of ever-increasing miniaturization of the electrical connectors. This invention is directed to solving such problems and to providing a new and improved panel mounted electrical connector wherein the panel mounting means and anti-vibration means all are provided in a very confined space such as on a narrow side wall of the connector housing.